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The policy brief examines the shortcomings of South Africa's current climate finance landscape, specifically the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) and the initial implementation of Climate Budget Tagging (CBT). It argues that current efforts suffer from horizontal and vertical incoherence, limited transparency regarding debt and private financing, and a top-down approach that marginalizes social justice and adaptation needs. To remedy this, the author proposes a comprehensive Climate-Responsive Budgeting (CRB) framework that integrates positive and negative expenditure tagging, revenue tracking, gender-responsive budgeting, and regular Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Reviews (CPEIR).

The document serves as a legal resource for South African communities to navigate the transition from fossil-fuel-based energy to renewable sources. It defines the Just Energy Transition (JET) and environmental justice, analyzes South Africa's current energy mix—which is 80% coal-dependent—and outlines the legal frameworks, such as the Constitution and the National Environmental Management Act, that support community participation. The guide provides practical steps for accessing information via PAIA requests, securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and engaging in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). It also highlights the potential for community-based renewable energy initiatives and the importance of Community Development Agreements to ensure local benefits.

The Kenya Energy Transition & Investment Plan (ETIP) 2023-2050 outlines a pathway to Net Zero emissions by 2050, requiring approximately USD 600 billion in capital investment. The plan emphasizes an 'Orderly Transition' anchored by six key technologies: renewables, low-carbon hydrogen, battery electric vehicles, clean cooking, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and negative-emission solutions. Key sectoral shifts include a 20-fold increase in power demand met primarily by solar and wind, the total phase-out of fossil-fuel motorcycles by 2045, and a transition from traditional biomass to electric and improved biomass cooking. The transition is projected to create 500,000 net new jobs and reduce domestic oil and gas consumption by approximately 94% compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

The document examines the challenges and opportunities for establishing green jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly in rural areas affected by COVID-19. It highlights a significant gap between 'environmental jobs' and 'green jobs' due to high informality and the lack of decent work standards. Through case studies in Colombia (bioeconomy and nature tourism in Guaviare) and Chile (agroecology in La Serena), the brief argues for a territorial approach that combines public policy with community-led initiatives to foster resilience and a just transition. It concludes with recommendations for governments to institutionalize green job definitions, improve statistical tracking, and provide targeted financial and technical support to vulnerable populations, including women and youth.

The document examines the potential for creating approximately 15 million green jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2030, particularly in the energy, forestry, transport, and ecosystem restoration sectors. It highlights the challenge of high labor informality, which hinders the establishment of 'decent' green employment. Through case studies in Colombia (Amazonian bioeconomy and tourism) and Chile (agroecology in Coquimbo), the brief argues for the need to institutionalize green job definitions, improve statistical data, and provide targeted financial and technical support to rural organizations and women entrepreneurs to ensure a just transition.

The Corporate Climate Stocktake 2023 reveals that while clean technology adoption is accelerating in sectors like power and road transport, systemic barriers—including infrastructure gaps, high 'green premiums', and workforce shortages—persist. The report argues that national emissions targets alone are insufficient and calls for multilateral coordination of industrial policy and sector-specific strategies to drive the diffusion of clean technologies.

The assessment finds that while Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all commit to climate neutrality by 2050, their strategies are largely aspirational and lack the rigorous sectoral modelling, investment analysis, and socioeconomic impact assessments required by EU regulations. Lithuania's strategy is the most recent and detailed regarding targets, while Latvia's is the most legible. Estonia's original LTS is outdated and brief, though supplemented by the broader 'Eesti 2035' plan. Common regional weaknesses include a lack of integrated financial planning and insufficient detail on a 'just transition,' particularly for Estonia's oil-shale region. The report recommends structural harmonisation, comprehensive sectoral modelling, and increased regional collaboration to enhance energy security and achieve decarbonisation goals.

The NewClimate Institute finds that Germany's plan to build eleven LNG terminals with a total capacity of 73 bcm per year far exceeds the amount of gas needed to compensate for lost Russian pipeline imports. The report asserts that with continued energy efficiency and pipeline imports from neighbors, no new LNG terminals would be required. Building all planned terminals would likely result in stranded assets and undermine the energy transition by diverting resources from renewable energy and efficiency measures.

The NewClimate Institute asserts that Germany's planned LNG terminals are not necessary to meet gas demand following the loss of Russian imports and would likely become stranded assets. The report suggests that current demand could be met through continued imports from neighboring countries and increased energy efficiency, warning that full implementation of the 11 planned terminals would jeopardize the 2045 climate neutrality goal and violate the Paris Agreement.

The document argues that South Africa's transition from a carbon-intensive, coal-dependent economy to green energy requires a strategic focus on skills development within the TVET ecosystem. Given the country's high unemployment rate of 35.3% and the potential for job losses in fossil-fuel industries, the report emphasizes a 'just transition' that utilizes reskilling, economic diversification, and social welfare to protect vulnerable workers while preparing the workforce for new technological revolutions, including 4IR technologies.

The report outlines a strategic framework to transition South Africa's TVET system toward a green hydrogen economy (GHE). It identifies critical gaps in current vocational training, such as low throughput and poor industry alignment, and proposes a 'demand-led' model using Centres of Specialisation (CoS). Through four quantitative scenarios, the report forecasts that an 'All-inclusive Portfolio' of domestic use and exports would maximize GDP growth and TVET job creation by 2050. Key recommendations include developing a Green Skills Master Plan, implementing nano-credentialing, and reskilling workers from sunset industries like coal mining into growth sectors such as platinum mining and green steel.

The document argues that the DOE's proposed 4 kgCO2e/kgH2 standard is too weak and should be lowered to 1 kgCO2e/kgH2 to prioritize truly zero-emission hydrogen. It criticizes the GREET model for underestimating methane leakage and grid emissions, warns against the safety and environmental risks of carbon capture and storage (CCS), and demands that the hydrogen hub program incorporate strict environmental justice protections and community engagement.

The Institute for Economic Justice argues that South Africa's JETP is a flawed climate finance model that relies heavily on loans rather than grants, benefiting private Independent Power Producers (IPPs) while leaving the state with the financial risk. The author contends that the deal lacks transparency, fails to adequately fund the localization of the renewable energy value chain, and provides insufficient social security for workers in the coal belt.

The guide outlines five key tips for understanding decarbonization models, emphasizing that they are often deterministic 'black box' optimizations that may prioritize lowest cost over the best societal outcome, overlook non-electric sectors, undervalue grid reliability, present scenarios as predictions rather than possibilities, and rely on implausible assumptions regarding implementation and infrastructure.

The global steel sector, responsible for approximately 7% of worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions, faces a critical transition period as 71% of coal-based blast furnace capacity will require reinvestment by 2030. The report highlights the disparity between current production methods—specifically the high emissions of Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) versus Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)—and the massive investment required for enabling infrastructure, such as green hydrogen and CO2 pipelines. It advocates for a combination of upstream, midstream, and downstream policies, including Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfDs) and Green Public Procurement (GPP), to avoid stranded assets and align the industry with a 1.5°C-compatible trajectory. Additionally, the Climate Bonds Initiative introduces sector-specific criteria to guide the certification of climate-aligned steel assets and companies.

The report examines the impact of global decarbonisation on Africa's natural gas sector, distinguishing between existing and emerging producers. It argues that faster global transitions to net-zero emissions will reduce LNG demand and prices, creating 'external' climate transition risks that threaten the viability of future projects. The analysis suggests that domestic demand is an insufficient hedge against these risks due to regulated low prices and the increasing competitiveness of renewable energy. Emerging producers are identified as particularly vulnerable due to weaker sovereign credit ratings and the timing of their infrastructure investments.

The report finds that IFIs have historically had limited exposure to the steel sector, with most investments focused on business-as-usual modernization rather than transformative decarbonization. While barriers such as the high capital intensity of steel projects and a lack of national policy frameworks in developing countries exist, the authors argue that IFIs can accelerate the transition by de-risking first movers, supporting green hydrogen strategies, and creating demand through green public procurement standards for infrastructure projects.

The briefing posits that green hydrogen is transitioning from pilot projects to the creation of niche markets (Phase 3 of the S-curve), which will lead to mass-market adoption as costs fall. It highlights scaling production, expanding demand in heavy industry, and the role of policy support in driving this acceleration.

The EU needs to mobilize €330 billion to €400 billion in private investment to bring 20 million tons of green hydrogen to market by 2030. However, two primary risks hinder this: market risk, where off-takers fear paying higher-than-market rates compared to fossil fuels, and first-mover risk, where early investors face high electrolyzer costs that may become uncompetitive as technology prices fall. RMI suggests that a cumulative investment of approximately €10 billion between 2024 and 2029 could offset market risk, while producers may need €3.5-5 billion per year in public support to keep early capacity competitive. By spending up to €15 billion to offset these risks by 2030, the EU could leverage significant private spending on renewables and electrolyzers.

The document analyzes the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, detailing how they provide billions in funding and tax credits for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), direct air capture (DAC), and hydrogen production. It specifically highlights the 45Q tax credit increases and the Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit, while criticizing provisions that link renewable energy permitting on federal lands to continued oil and gas leasing.